Button-hole-sewing mechanism



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D. MILLS. Y

BUTTON HOLE SEWING MECHANISM.

Patented Mar. 3, 1885.

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(ModeL) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. D. MILLS.

BUTTON HOLE SEWING MECHANISM. No. 313,359. Patented Mar. .3, 188-5.

(ModeL) 4 SheetsSheet 3.

D. MILLS.

- BUTTON HOLE SEWING MECHANISM. No. 313,359., Patented Mar. 8, 1885.

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BUTTON HOLE SEWING MEGHA NISM. No. 313,359. Patented Man 3.v 1885.

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UNrTnn STATES PATENT Trice.

DANIEL MILLS, OF PHILADELPHIA, FENNSYLVANIA.

BUTTON-=l-IOLE-SEWING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 313,359, dated March 3,1885.

Application filed March 5, 1883. Renewed November 8, 1883. Again renewedJune 17, 1. 84.

(Mod el T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL MiLLs, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Button-Hole-Sewing Mechanism, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to that class of buttonhole mechanisms forsewing-machines in which the material is held between a pair of clampshaving an automatic lateral reciprocating motion and an intermittentfeed motion imparted to them, so that the sewing mechanism may stipchthe sides and bar the ends of the buttonho e.

My present invention relates to certain improvements in the details ofthe button-hole mechanism, the general principle of which is the same asin the machines described and claimed in the following Letters Patent:Reissue No. 9,962, dated December 6, 1881, N 0. 249,411, dated November8, 1881, both granted to F. Simmons; and No. 265,850, dated October 10,1882, No. 266,044, dated October 17, 1882, and No. 266,181, datedOctober 17,1882, granted to myself.

As in my last-mentioned patent, my present improvements are shown asapplied to a button-hole mechanism in the form of an attachment whichcan be applied to an ordinary sewing-machine when it is desired to usethe latter for stitching button-holes, and may be as readily removedwhen it is desired to use the machine for other work.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a side view of anattachment with my improvements applied to a sewing-machine. Fig.2,Sheet 2, is a plan view of the attachment; Fig. 3, Sheet 3, a sectionalview on the line 1 2, Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4, a perspective View of aportion of the apparatus with parts removed; Fig. 5, a similar view ofanother part of the machine; Fig. 6, a perspective view of theadjustable cam, and Fig. 7 a transverse section of the same, showing theadjusting device. Fig. Sis a section on the line 3 4, Figs. 1 and 2, andFig. 9 is a sectional View at right angles thereto.

Referring to Fig. 1, A is the ordinary bed-. plate of the sewing-machineproper; B, the

arm; B, the head, and b the needle bar, to which motion is imparted bythe usual horizontal shaft carrying the fly-wheel D. This shaft alsoimparts motion to the operative parts of the button hole feed mechanismthrough the medium of a suitable cam, D, (indicated by dotted lines inFig. 1,) the cam preferably being a switch-cam of the constructiondescribed by me in a separate application for a patent filed of evendate herewith.

The entire button-holing attachment is carried by a base-plate, H, whichis to be secured to the bed-plate of the sewing-machine in the positionillustrated in Fig. 1, the parts being arranged in this case to sew thebuttoinhole longitudinally of the bed-plate, as shown in Fig. 2, insteadof transversely,as in my abovecited patents.

The primary slide G, which is in this instance a transverse dovetailedbar, is adapted to dovetailed guides on the base-plate, and has a stud,g, on which bear the springs f f, Fig. 2, carried by the bell-cranklever F, pivoted at f to the base-plate. The short arm of thisspring-lever is provided with an anti-friction roller, f", adapted to anopening in the lower arm of a vertical lever, F, pivoted to an uprightor standard, p, on the base-plate. The upper end of this lever F carriesa shoe, 0, Figs. 3 and 4,which is acted on by the abovementioned cam Don the horizontal shaft of the sewing-machine proper, so as to impart anintermittent oscillating motion to the said lever F and thence anintermittent reciprocating motion to the primary slide G through themedium of the spring-lever F.

On the slide G are mounted the projections S S, Figs. 2 and 3, whichtogether form the yoke referred to in my former patents, and which arearranged on opposite sides of the shaft 0, this shaft O being mounted inbearings in the standards 1) p on the base-plate H. These projections SS are provided with the usual curved faces, a s, which are to be actedon by the adjustable stop-cam T, Fig. 3, on the shaft 0.

On the primary slide G are arranged at right angles thereto the ways G,Figs. 1 and 3, for the secondary slide J, Fig. 2, which carries thecloth-clamp at its outer end. -The low- IOC er part of the cloth-clampconsists of a strip of sheet metal, k, secured to the pendent end of theslide J, and having the usual oblong slot. The upper slotted portion,7c, of the clamp is pivoted to the fork k, Figs. 1 and 2, swiveled inthe arm K,which is pivoted to the end of the slide J, and is acted on bya spiral spring, Z, Fig. 2, which tends to swing the arm K on its pivot,and so raise the upper clamp.

Projecting from the arm K is a spring-finger, Z, which is acted on bythe cam-lever L, Fig. 1, pivoted to lugs on the slide J, so that whenthe said lever is depressed into the position shown in Fig. 1 theportion k of the clamp will have been forced down onto the lower half,la, with a yielding pressure. The slide J is held down onto its ways Gby means of a pin or bolt, j, Fig. 1, passing through a slot in thebottom of the said ways, and carrying a cross-piece, j, bearing on theunder side of the ways, while a small spiral spring, j interposedbetween the head of the pin j and the cross-piece, will allow the slideJ to rise to a slight extent should any irregularity L in the surface ofthe bed of the machine require it.

The required intermittent motion first in one direction and then in theother is imparted to the slide J and clamps by means substantiallysimilar to those described in my former patent-that is, the shaft 0carries a scroll-cam, N, forming a right and left hand screw, and actingon a pin on the end of a lever, M, pivoted at m, and having a pin, m,with a swiveled square head adapted to a corresponding rectangularrecess in the underside of the slide J. An intermittent rotary motion isimparted to the shaft 0 by means of the friction feed- Wheel R,which maybe of the construction described in my Patent No. 266,181; but is preferably of the form described and claimed in an application of even dateherewith, this friction-feed reccivi n g motion from the vibrating-leverF through the devices hereinafter referred to.

The devices which I have above described are, with the exception of theclamp and the devices for retaining the slide J, substantially similarto those set forth in my above-mentioned patents, and as they operate insubstantially the same way it will not be necessary to describe theiroperation further; but I will now describe the detailed improvements ofwhich my present invention consists.

First, with regard to the devices for imparting motion to thefriction-feed: On the lower end of the vibrating lever F is formed adouble cam or two cams, q q, Figs. 4 and 5, acting on the end of an arm,q, carried by a rock-shaft, Q, the other arm, 9, of this rockshaft, Fig.5, acting on the under side of the lever B ofthe friction-wheel R. Thus,owing to the action of the cams on the vibrating lever F, the arm R ofthe feed-wheel will be elevated through the medium of the saidrockshaft. A spring, 1", returns the arm R of the feed-wheel after itsrelease from each cam q,

and the usual adjustable stop-screw, 7", Figs. 3 and 4, regulates theextent of movement of the arm R, and consequently the extent of feed.

The pivot -pin m of the lever M passes through a block, m", Figs. 2 and4, adapted to be adjusted in a longitudinal slot in said lever, by meansof a set-screw, m", in the baseplate H, so as to vary the leverage andconsequently the extent of motion of the slide J, and thereby vary thelength of the buttonhole sewed; but as it is desirable, when a change ismade in the size of the button-hole to preserve the same character ofstitch, I combine with the adjustable pivot-block m a wedge-shapedfinger, m", Fig. 4, on which'the lower end of the set-screw r rests, sothat when the block m is adjusted in the slot of the lever M to vary thesize of the button-hole, the wedge-piece m is simultaneously andcorrespondingly adjusted to make more or less stitches, according to thelength of the buttonhole. I prefer to combine with the lever M aguide-arm, M, pivoted to the base-plate. I also mount on the adjustablepivot-block m a vertical index finger, on, which projects through a slotin the top of the cover V for the attachment, (indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 3,) and which serves to approximately indicate to the operatorthe length of the button-hole being sewed.

In order to permit of variations being made in the distance or spaceleft between the inner or adjacent edges of the lines of button-holestitches, I make one or both of the projecting facess 8 adjustable bymeans of set-screws 8" toward or from the stop-cam T, one face onlybeing shown as adjustable in the present instance.

In my former Patent No. 266,044 I have shown and described certaindevices for varying the depth of bight of the stitches, these devicesconsisting of a stop on the primary slide and adjusting-nuts carried bya rightand-left-handed screw-rod. In my present invention I provide forthe independent variation in the bight on either side of the button-holeby providing the primary slide with two lugs, gg", Fig. 3, and twoset-screw stops, g, in the base-plate, so that one may be adj ustedindependently of the other.

Vith the view of simplifying the devices for expanding the two sectionsof the cam T against the action of the spring t, Figs. 6 and 7, I makeuse of a radial taper screw, 2!, adapted to be screwed into the shaft atright angles thereto, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, to separate the twohalves of the cam T, as described in my former patents.

Some of the features described and claimed in this application, and moreparticularly covered by the first and second claims, are also shown anddescribed, but not claimed, in other applications for patents filed byme-one dated August 6, 1883, Serial No. 102,914, and another dated April5, 1884, Serial N 0. 126,756.

I claim as my invention 1. I11 a button-hole-sewing mechanism, the

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combination of a base-plate and primary slide carrying a cloth-clampwith a movable stopcam and projections mounted on said slide, one orboth of said projections having an ad- 5 j ustable face or faces, as andfor the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the base-plate of a button-hole-sewing mechanism,and aprimary slide having lugs g g", with independent setscrews g 9*.

3. The combination of a feed wheel and arm, R, with a two-armedrock-shaft, Q, and a vibrating lever, F, carrying cams acting on one ofthe arms of said shaft.

4. The combination of a cam-shaft, feedwheel, and an arm, R, havingastop-pin, with DANL. MILLS.

W'itnesses:

HARRY L. ASHENFELTER, HUBERT HowsoN.

